WWE Sued By 51 Former Performers Over Head Trauma

WWE is back in hot water, as the company is being sued by 51 former performers who are claiming that WWE was neglectful of the neurological effects of the injuries they suffered from years of wrestling.

More specifically, the class action lawsuit alleges WWE hid the effects of head trauma from its performers, in addition to placing “corporate gain over its wrestlers’ health, safety and financial security, choosing to leave the plaintiffs severely injured and with no recourse to treat their damaged minds and bodies.”

Source: YouTube

WWE sent an official response to the lawsuit to Wrestling Inc., vehemently denying the accusations being levied against them:

“This is another ridiculous attempt by the same attorney who has previously filed class action lawsuits against WWE, both of which have been dismissed. A federal judge has already found that this lawyer made patently false allegations about WWE, and this is more of the same.”

Chris Harrington of Wrestling Inc. published a list of the 51 plaintiffs, which includes former WWE tag team champion Road Warrior Animal, former Intercontinental champion Shane Douglas, and Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, who’s still facing legal troubles of his own. The list was unveiled by Harrington on Twitter:

While I’m not sure if these guys necessarily have a case, considering many of these stars are well over a decade removed from their time in WWE. It all feels like a retroactive attempt at a cash-in, in some respects. I mean, did Don Leo Jonathan even wrestle for WWE at all? And if so, was it even long enough to have accrued the injuries he’s claiming? A guy like Sabu has done a lot of indy dates since leaving WWE, and that likely makes whatever injuries he’s sustained considerably worse due to his over-the-top, hardcore style. And Muhammad Hassan was on the main WWE roster for all of eight months in 2005. Basically, while elements of this lawsuit might have merit, I’m not sure that every person on the list of plaintiffs necessarily has a case. But WWE is likely going to fight this tooth-and-nail anyway, just to dissuade similar lawsuits from popping up in the future. I guess we’ll see how this all turns out.

But what do you think about the lawsuit? Is there a case here? Sound off in the comments!